US Cops shooting dogs - An non US Citizens view

originally posted by: On the level
As a Scotsman and proud dog owner, the continued reports from the US and on ATS of American police happily shooting any dog they see as any sort of
threat is very worrying. I love my dog and if anyone shot him in my presence I would likely kill them, no boasting or being an internet hard guy,
thats a fact, I see him as my child.
What worries me about the shootings is not just the frequency of them, but the lack of action by the American public, people seem to just accept this
as the status quo. I feel this is another level of social conditioning, first they shoot dogs then the will ramp up shooting anyone on their own door
step. The no knock entries to homes, increased weaponry, military vehicles the list goes on to what is happening to the US police forces, they are out
of hand, too heavy handed and clearly think they are above the law.
I really feel sorry about what America has become, and what I perceive to be the end of American freedoms and the creation of a police state. I only
hope revolution comes quickly as the US is now seen around the world as a worse place to live than the majority of countries you are meant to be
against or trying to free.

I can't read any of those stories without feeling murderous. You're right, if that ever happened to my dog or someone else's dog in front of me
I'd either be dead or in prison within 10 minutes.

I think the majority of Europe would stand with American citizens that rebel against the terrible Government currently in charge. The system needs to
come down and police and polititians alike made to pay for their crimes

A dog can tear out your throat if it's large enough and trained to attack, so it's not unacceptable to kill one if it truly seems to be a threat to
your life. Some of those cases might be an excessive use of force, but if a cop feels threatened he can shoot, that's his prerogative.

Police in the United States are being trained to see the population as the enemy and to act aggressively to any threat. In the end, shooting the dog
is a good way to intimidate people. They train police to shoot the dog to "protect themselves" first if it seems aggressive. That is the
justification but the point is intimidation. Most cops don't know how to interpret the finer points of body language in a dog and they certainly
don't train them to. If it is a big dog or an "aggressive" breed that is so much as barking at a cop it will likely be shot.

If you would go to the mat for your dog I respect that, but if they shot my dog it would be a clear signal to me that if they interpret what I do as
aggressive I am at risk. If I didn't have children I might get belligerent about it but I think I would probably sit down and shut up so no human
beings get hurt because of a power-tripping, jumpy or some combination cop. I get where you are coming from though.

originally posted by: Gallowglaich
A dog can tear out your throat if it's large enough and trained to attack, so it's not unacceptable to kill one if it truly seems to be a threat to
your life. Some of those cases might be an excessive use of force, but if a cop feels threatened he can shoot, that's his prerogative.

Maybe dog owners should keep better control over their animals.

There have been multiple stories posted here in the past, where the dog owner pleaded with LEO to let them put their dog in the house so they could
talk with the LEO, about whatever reason they had arrived in the first place. The dogs where shot anyway. Sometimes the poor dog is chased around to
a back yard then shot. If the dog is running away, why the hell shoot it?

It' out of control power tripping by too many LEO, who are in a tax paid position of civil service. They are more now, acting like paid thugs,
looking to shock and intimidate...not enforce the law. They are now making up the law as they go.

originally posted by: Gallowglaich
A dog can tear out your throat if it's large enough and trained to attack, so it's not unacceptable to kill one if it truly seems to be a threat to
your life. Some of those cases might be an excessive use of force, but if a cop feels threatened he can shoot, that's his prerogative.

Maybe dog owners should keep better control over their animals.

Come on... You can't be serious. In 2013 a total of 33 police were killed in the line of duty. 14 were firearms related, 11 we traffic fatalities and
8 were by "other" causes. None of those were by a dog however. W are at the point now whe civilian fatalities alone by Police in America outnumber the
US military deaths in Iraq. I tried but haven't been able to find any recent statistics on civilian owned dogs killed by police but its certainly a
safe bet that we are in far more danger of the police attacking or killing us and our pets than they are of us harming or killing them. It's a big
crock of poo that these guys lives are in desperate danger every second of the day. THEY are the danger.

None of those statistics even take into consideration the litany of stories I read every week about some police officer running through a persons back
yard in the dark of night without a warrant and shooting dogs who are behind fences because they cops were scared. I'm sorry but if they're so damned
scared when wearing body armor and carrying lethal and less than lethal weapons they are cowards and children who should be working at the local car
wash.

originally posted by: Gallowglaich
A dog can tear out your throat if it's large enough and trained to attack, so it's not unacceptable to kill one if it truly seems to be a threat to
your life. Some of those cases might be an excessive use of force, but if a cop feels threatened he can shoot, that's his prerogative.

Maybe dog owners should keep better control over their animals.

There have been multiple stories posted here in the past, where the dog owner pleaded with LEO to let them put their dog in the house so they could
talk with the LEO, about whatever reason they had arrived in the first place. The dogs where shot anyway. Sometimes the poor dog is chased around to
a back yard then shot. If the dog is running away, why the hell shoot it?

It' out of control power tripping by too many LEO, who are in a tax paid position of civil service. They are more now, acting like paid thugs,
looking to shock and intimidate...not enforce the law. They are now making up the law as they go.

Des

Well, this may be true, but most of the cops I've met did not give me the impression of "thugs looking to shock and intimidate". I believe that the
majority are genuinely interested in helping and protecting people.

What I can't stand is spoiled, pampered rich kids saying "f*ck the police" to seem hard and cool, like they hear in rap songs. That behavior is for
ignorant children, not grown men and women.

It's a bit difficult to train a dog not to bark at someone entering its property with a gun drawn. If a cop is attacked by a dog in the street then
fair enough but to enter private properties and shoot dogs for defending their owners is madness.

originally posted by: 727Sky
...are really such a small percentage of the norm it is not something I go to bed at night fearing.

How do you know? You likely didn't think it was happening at all until the advent of the cell phone camera. That's when you discovered this stuff
was going on ALL ALONG. Me, being of Irish descent (mostly), we had a large percentage of LEOs, and as you might expect, it was all the #holes. I had
one cousin who was bound and determined to be a LEO from the age of maybe 7 (it's all he ever talked about). He was a kind sort of guy. I didn't
think he'd last, and he didn't, he was cast out, ostracized, for testifying against one of his fellow officers. Mike was too straight. Wouldn't
testi-lie for the guy. In fact, he went out of his way to go to another state to provide a negative character witness and to clarify some 'cleaned
up' records. The guy ended up with some jail time and Mike, he couldn't work for the PD anymore. Now he's an arson investigator.

But the ones that were on the take or liked beating the dog crap out of people, they did right well.

You want an eye opener, go for a ride along, and encourage the cop a bit. It won't take much. You'll get an eye full.

The no knock entries to homes, increased weaponry, military vehicles the list goes on to what is happening to the US police forces, they are out of
hand, too heavy handed and clearly think they are above the law.
I really feel sorry about what America has become, and what I perceive to be the end of American freedoms and the creation of a police state. I only
hope revolution comes quickly as the US is now seen around the world as a worse place to live than the majority of countries you are meant to be
against or trying to free.

In a POLICE STATE the ENEMY of the POLICE is the PEOPLE.
Therefore the ENEMY of the PEOPLE is the POLICE

When someone or something is out to GET YOU, there is NO BARGAINING or JUSTIFYING their actions.

THEY are ALL TRAITORS to the ONCE FREE REPUBLIC, and traitors of the WORST TYPE. Betraying our
ancestors along with us for the 3 P's.

With the proliferation of the Pit Bull breed in the last few decades, I'm not surprised. As a rule, the dog is vicious and should never be trusted.
They don't bark (much) they attack. I've had personal experience dating back to when the breed was largely unknown in the US, in the early 1980s
and as recently as a few months ago with a neighbor's dog.

The problem with the pit bull is the situation where they are frequently found: the attitudes and life style of the owners. Those people tend to be
on the meaner site of society in about any way you care to mention. They tend to like the idea of having a dog with powerful jaws that will die
before it lets go of its prey. The dogs pick up on how to respond to others, especially strangers.

Anybody that disagrees with any of the above, first research why police have shot somebody's pit bull and you will frequently see the connection
between owner and dog. Of the ten breeds of dogs that have the most recorded attacks on humans in the US, the pit bull ranks at about 60% of ALL
biting dogs. I could recite a personal horror story about one episode I had with a pit bull, but you can find plenty of stories on the internet.

All of that said, I have a son, not exactly an upstanding citizen from a law-and-order position, that has two pit bulls. He seems to be about the
typical pit bull owner,

Im a non US citizen and the reports of cops in US shooting dogs frequently for what appears as trivial reasons (e.g. Dog barked at me as I kicked in
door), is simply pathetic. Im fully for animal rights and wont sit back ever and say nothing about. To me I see there are stemic attitude problems
existing within elements of a police force which is there to serve and protect. When they start blasting Dogs for no good reason they are doing is not
that.

The op has pointed out how he views the shooting of dogs by the cops is out of control and views it as wrong. But the problem is that the media only
shows one side of the story, nor does it accurately portray the actual statistics that happen, and how quickly we have forgotten the past history of
events and tragedies that have occurred in the past and the nature of the very animals that we would have as companions. Before you flame, please
read the entire postings and consider this:

A dog is not a human, and even though we would view them as our family, and like children, they are not. They are animals, with the same mentality
and nature as their distant relatives, the wolves. They are social creatures, and tend to try to please their pack leader. But the people of the USA
are a wasteful people; make no mistake we are a toss away society, getting rid of what we do not want or desire, throwing it away and moving on. It
is estimated that 3 to 4 million dogs are put down every year. And that is just one estimate, and then there are those who would use some animals to
do some of the more unspeakable things, like dog fighting. And that creates another problem in its entirety, and creates a situation that causes the
belief that an entire breed is dangerous.

And then you have the bad and poor owners, who do not work with their animal, take no time to train, or keep their animal under control where it
becomes a threat to the local population all around. Many cities and states have laws on the books, where the owners are responsible for the actions
of their dogs, to include leash laws. The reality is that, in some states, if a dog bites a person, it is put down. And if the animal was either not
under control of the owner, or the owner provoked the animals to attack, then the owner becomes guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. Make no
mistake these kinds of incidents happen. In 2013, there were at least 30 fatalities where a dog was involved.

While the Op is correct that the police do shoot dogs and feel it is wrong, here again it is only half of the story, as the police have to make
decisions and choices when coming up to a scene. If the dog is running around, or shows aggressive tendencies, then the officer, in the name of
public safety will shoot to kill the animal. Would you want to be mauled by a dog, or what would you say to say a parent if their child was attacked
by a dog? What if it was your child, would you be willing to accept that the police, decided not to stop the danger?

Now if the animal is restrained, and say in a fenced in yard, then the police is in the wrong, but if the animal is not, then the police is in the
right. And that is only half of the story and situation, consider this, if you get bit by a strange dog, and cannot find the owner, are you willing
to go through the pain and agony that will follow from such a bite? As sad as it is, some owner s do not get their dogs vaccinated, and that poses
another threat to people, and from what I hear, 10 to 20 shots are given. Would you want to go through that nightmare?

How odd that postal carriers go into peoples' yards every day without having to kill the dogs.

Or the meter guys. Or fire department. Or...well, you get the idea. Not every dog is a pit bull, although I get the idea that you guys see them that
way. And of course, you always get away with shooting a dog, the way the law is written. So if the owner mouths you a bit - bam! Lesson taught, eh?

Why use facts when wild stereotyping will do the trick to justify asinine actions by law enforcement. Well done. Your assessment is akin to "Ive had
a couple of crappy run ins with Hispanics so all people of Spanish ancestry are by default terrible people" or more prominent stereotypes like all
Irish are alcoholics. It's ludicrous at best.

How odd that postal carriers go into peoples' yards every day without having to kill the dogs.

Or the meter guys. Or fire department. Or...well, you get the idea. Not every dog is a pit bull, although I get the idea that you guys see them that
way. And of course, you always get away with shooting a dog, the way the law is written. So if the owner mouths you a bit - bam! Lesson taught, eh?

In 2012 almost 6,000 postal workers were bitten by dogs, how odd indeed.

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